(AP) Gannett Co., the owner of USA Today and other newspapers and television stations, reported a 53 percent increase in first-quarter net income Tuesday. The results were boosted by a one-time tax benefit and new fees to access many of Gannett's newspaper websites.

The media company said it earned $104.6 million, or 44 cents per share, in the January-March period. That was up from $68.2 million, or 28 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue grew 1.6 percent to $1.24 billion from $1.22 billion.

Excluding one-time items, mainly consisting of the tax benefit, Gannett earned $86 million, or 37 cents per share, in the quarter. The comparable figures a year ago were $80.8 million or 34 cents per share. Analysts were expecting earnings of 35 cents per share on revenue of $1.24 billion, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Gannett, based in McLean, Virginia, has instituted a number changes recently aimed at boosting revenue. It began charging readers for online access to news content last year by erecting so-called paywalls at most of its newspapers, although not at USA Today. At the same time, the company raised prices of single-copy newspapers and print subscriptions.

The new subscription model is helping to balance a continued decline in advertising. Revenue in the publishing division fell just 0.3 percent to $871.2 million from the same period a year ago. The division broke a long streak of year-over-year revenue declines in the fourth quarter of last year, when it posted a 4 percent increase. The publishing division accounts for 70 percent of Gannett's overall revenue. Domestic publishing revenue was up slightly, for the first time since 2006.